A New Translation

  Palestinian rioters in Jerusalem

The translation of Freudís letter to Chaim Koffler, which was taken from the cataloque of an exhibition at Jerusalem University, has been criticised for being tendentious and lending itself to 'Palestinian propaganda'. A new translation has been proposed which I reproduce below.
 
Dear Doctor,

I cannot do what you ask. My unwillingness to involve the public with my name is insurmountable and not even this present critical occasion seems to warrant it. Whoever wishes to influence the crowd must express something that resonates and creates enthusiasm but my sober estimation of Zionism does not allow me to do so.

I certainly have a great deal of sympathy for their endeavours; I am proud of our university in Jerusalem and am pleased that our settlements are flourishing.

But, on the other hand, I do not believe that Palestine can ever become a Jewish State or that both the Christian and Islamic world will ever be prepared to entrust their holy places to Jewish care. To me it would have seemed more sensible to establish a Jewish homeland on a historically unencumbered soil; I do know that with such a rational plan one could never have won the enthusiasm of the masses or the financial backing of the rich. Also, I regretfully admit that the unworldly fanaticism of our fellow Jews must bear some responsibility for awakening the mistrust of the Arabs. Nor can I summon up any trace of sympathy for the misguided piety that has made a piece of Herod's wall into a national relic, thereby provoking the natives' feelings.

Now judge for yourself whether I, with such a critical attitude, am the right person to act as the comforter of a people whose unfounded hopes have been shattered.

Yours respectfully, Freud

Here is the text of one of the emails received from the new translator.

Dear Mr Molnar / Mr Ivan Ward

Re: Mr Ivan Ward's WebPages / Freud's letter to Chaim Koffler

Further to our correspondence, I enclose the final draft of my translation
for your attention. I hope you will agree it is a vast improvement on Ivan
Ward's version.

I think it especially important to correct the following inaccuracies:

Line 5 - instead of "sympathise with" - a great deal of sympathy for
Line 10 - instead of " a less historically-burdened " - a historically
unencumbered
Line 12 - instead of "baseless fanaticism" - unworldly fanaticism
Line 17 - instead of " deluded by unjustified hope" - ..unfounded hopes
..shattered.

Also, there are these spelling errors:

· Jerusalem
· settlements'
· obedient

And on another tangent: even allowing for Ivan Ward's personal sympathies, I
find it incompatible with the aims of a serious academic Website such as
yours to allow Freud's name to be associated with rather dubious and
out-of-date Palestinian propaganda: - Freud today / "Arab-Israeli conflict".
Just as he was reluctant to lend his name to the Zionists, Freud would be
horrified, I imagine, to see himself being used in support of the Arabs.
And, I consider it especially tasteless and insensitive when the Holocaust
is cheapened and trivialised by being juxtaposed to an unrelated article
about some Israeli army deserters: - Freud today / "Holocaust Memorial Day".

I look forward to your comments.

Best regards,

(Name supplied)

A response to some of these criticisms can be found on the 'Being 'pro-Arab'' page.

Freud today | Arab-Israeli conflict | Being 'Pro-Arab'